From NY Post Dot Com

‘Pawn’ spawn
By LINDA STASI

Now that “Pawn Stars” and the Harrison family have become the hottest things to hit the strip since strip joints, everybody wants to cash in.

Enter TruTV’s new show, “Hardcore Pawn,” a reality show about a suburban Detroit pawn shop that’s roughly the size of Costco — with almost as much stuff. Like a good pawn shop, TruTV wants to trade in on somebody else’s gold mine. Trouble is they’re dealing with stolen goods. The show is a ripoff of “Pawn Stars,” without the charm but with much of the ugly.

The place, American Jewelry and Loan — run by a family called, I swear, the Golds — is 50,000 square feet filled with 45,000 items. Like “Pawn Stars,” the Golds’ emporium is headed by a patriarch, the misnamed Les Gold. With his gold medallion and rings, he should be named More Gold.

Unlike Old Man Harrison, Les is not so quirky as he is unappealing. He’s got greasy, slicked back hair, a black leather sports jacket and skin that’s been tanned to the color of a new penny. Since pawning is a family affair, his grown kids, Seth and Ashley, work in the store with him.

Les describes his son as “the future owner of American Jewelry and Loan,” and his daughter as “the bitch of American Jewelry and Loan.” Enough said.

The show has its share of interesting items that come in. The most popular item in the premiere is a stripper pole complete with shag carpet platform — bring in the disinfectant and bed bug spray! — but the people who try it out aren’t really the kind you want to have over for a beer.

There’s also an obscenity-spewing lady with a bad braid job who goes berserkers because, she says, the Golds lost her earrings. Meantime, she has no paperwork. A big portion of the show is devoted to her yelling, “You no good mother-f- - - - - -,” and Les sagely replying, “f- - -, f- - -, f- - -” back. She threatens that he won’t make it home that night. Like I said, unpleasant.

There’s nothing fun about depressed Detroit or desperate people who have to sell their stuff to feed their kids. We don’t see any of these sad stories, but when you get a look at the parking lot, you know the place is not filled with happy people.

Besides that, a lot of it is clearly set up. For example, a woman comes into the shop with two horses and one donkey to pawn. Talk about a pile of horse manure! That stunt alone was enough to make me feel as used as that stripper pole.

Not a terrible show but, like a used toaster, it’s nothing new.

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